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JUST IN: Henry responds to damning JDIP report
Published: Wednesday November 16, 2011 | 6:45 pm 0 Comments
The Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry has responded to the Auditor General's report into the controversial US$400 million Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).
In a release issued a short while ago, the transport minister said he will be supplying the Auditor General’s Department with clarifications tomorrow.
He also said had he known of the plan to use $102 million in JDIP money to refurbish the corporate offices of the National Works Agency, he would not have approved it.
See full statement from the Transport Ministry below:
After reviewing reports submitted to him earlier today by the National Works Agency (NWA) through the ministry’s permanent secretary, along with the report from the Auditor General’s Department about JDIP, which was raised in Parliament yesterday, Transport and Works Minister, Mike Henry, has ordered a further examination of the matter by the Permanent Secretary.
This is while committing to furnish the Auditor General’s Department with the requisite details and clarifications to allay concerns which were raised about the JDIP, including the interim report from the Permanent Secretary, which will be made public tomorrow.
However, the minister noted that some of the details which the report cited as being outstanding were in fact supplied by the NWA, and also that there were instances of apparent misinterpretation of facts by the Auditor General’s Department.
He noted that among the information which were submitted to the Auditor General’s Department but were not reflected in the report from the department were:
• The list of works conducted as emergencies by the NWA prior to the JDIP
• Details on the competence of the NWA’s assessors
• The schedule of bridge parts that were provided as owner supply contribution to the Rio Grande Bridge project.
• The quality assurance plan for the Christiana Development project
In relation to the refurbishing of the NWA’s head office, which was planned to be done under the institutional strengthening component of the JDIP to improve the agency’s capacity to adequately support the programme, Minister Henry said had the matter come to his attention when it was under consideration, he would not have approved the expenditure, based on the financial constraints now facing the country.
He said the CEO of the NWA had accepted responsibility for “having not handled the matter with enough clarity to prevent the confusion that has now emerged.”
Henry said the refurbishing of the NWA’s head office included correcting major sanitary and roofing defects on the building, as well as allowing for the return to use of some areas which had long been out of operation because of physical decay of the structure, which saw the abandonment of large sections of the building, dating back to the previous administration.
Among the areas of concern which the minister has instructed the permanent secretary to further examine are:
• The value of completed JDIP projects to date, including projects which were prompted by the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav in August 2008.
• Sub-contracting and the terms of engagement with the JDIP in this regard.
• The incorporation of bridge material which were obtained under the Mabey and Johnson bridge programme into the construction of the Rio Grande Bridge.
“The permanent secretary has been instructed to promptly seek full and satisfactory clarification of all the issues which were raised in the report from the Auditor General’s Department, for submission to that department by next Monday,” Henry said.
He said with the matter being first raised in Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, the clarifications would likewise be directed to the committee, and any further clarification by him will be given in Parliament itself.
Additionally, Henry said a Cabinet note would be prepared by the ministry for update and consideration at that level.
Published: Wednesday November 16, 2011 | 6:45 pm 0 Comments
The Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry has responded to the Auditor General's report into the controversial US$400 million Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).
In a release issued a short while ago, the transport minister said he will be supplying the Auditor General’s Department with clarifications tomorrow.
He also said had he known of the plan to use $102 million in JDIP money to refurbish the corporate offices of the National Works Agency, he would not have approved it.
See full statement from the Transport Ministry below:
After reviewing reports submitted to him earlier today by the National Works Agency (NWA) through the ministry’s permanent secretary, along with the report from the Auditor General’s Department about JDIP, which was raised in Parliament yesterday, Transport and Works Minister, Mike Henry, has ordered a further examination of the matter by the Permanent Secretary.
This is while committing to furnish the Auditor General’s Department with the requisite details and clarifications to allay concerns which were raised about the JDIP, including the interim report from the Permanent Secretary, which will be made public tomorrow.
However, the minister noted that some of the details which the report cited as being outstanding were in fact supplied by the NWA, and also that there were instances of apparent misinterpretation of facts by the Auditor General’s Department.
He noted that among the information which were submitted to the Auditor General’s Department but were not reflected in the report from the department were:
• The list of works conducted as emergencies by the NWA prior to the JDIP
• Details on the competence of the NWA’s assessors
• The schedule of bridge parts that were provided as owner supply contribution to the Rio Grande Bridge project.
• The quality assurance plan for the Christiana Development project
In relation to the refurbishing of the NWA’s head office, which was planned to be done under the institutional strengthening component of the JDIP to improve the agency’s capacity to adequately support the programme, Minister Henry said had the matter come to his attention when it was under consideration, he would not have approved the expenditure, based on the financial constraints now facing the country.
He said the CEO of the NWA had accepted responsibility for “having not handled the matter with enough clarity to prevent the confusion that has now emerged.”
Henry said the refurbishing of the NWA’s head office included correcting major sanitary and roofing defects on the building, as well as allowing for the return to use of some areas which had long been out of operation because of physical decay of the structure, which saw the abandonment of large sections of the building, dating back to the previous administration.
Among the areas of concern which the minister has instructed the permanent secretary to further examine are:
• The value of completed JDIP projects to date, including projects which were prompted by the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav in August 2008.
• Sub-contracting and the terms of engagement with the JDIP in this regard.
• The incorporation of bridge material which were obtained under the Mabey and Johnson bridge programme into the construction of the Rio Grande Bridge.
“The permanent secretary has been instructed to promptly seek full and satisfactory clarification of all the issues which were raised in the report from the Auditor General’s Department, for submission to that department by next Monday,” Henry said.
He said with the matter being first raised in Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, the clarifications would likewise be directed to the committee, and any further clarification by him will be given in Parliament itself.
Additionally, Henry said a Cabinet note would be prepared by the ministry for update and consideration at that level.